Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
  • CNET
  • All lro posts

lro

NASA sends Mona Lisa to the moon with lasers

I love it when engineers show off.

NASA scientists, having apparently nothing better to do, have shot an image of the Mona Lisa to the moon by piggybacking it on laser pulses. Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was successfully received by an instrument aboard the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) some 240,000 miles away.

"This is the first time anyone has achieved one-way laser communication at planetary distances," MIT's David Smith, head of the spacecraft's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA), said in a release.

"In the near future, this type of simple laser communication might serve as a backup for the radio communication that satellites use. In the more distant future, it may allow communication at higher data rates than present radio links can provide." … Read more

Good morning, moon: Supersized lunar eclipse Saturday (video)

If you live in the western United States, set your alarm tonight. The total lunar eclipse Saturday morning promises to be big and bright--and we won't get another one until 2014.

It starts around 4:45 a.m. PT, when Earth's shadow will begin to fall across the moon. By 6:05 a.m., the moon will be in full eclipse mode and glowing red. One atmospheric scientist who's become adept at predicting such events expects this eclipse to be "bright red with a possible hint of turquoise." Find out more--and why the moon will … Read more

Three weeks left to launch your name into space

If you want to make it to the moon but don't have the chops to be an astronaut, the deadline is approaching to at least send your name around Earth's orbiting rock.

June 27 marks the last day to enter your information on the Web to send your name to the moon with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Your name will be incorporated in a database and loaded onto a microchip built into the LRO spacecraft. The service is free and comes with a printable certificate assuring you that you are indeed a part of the LRO experience. … Read more